Legal Digest

An amendment to a local coastal plan is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act, even if the local agency adopts an environmental impact report for the amendment, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a ruling with potential implications for development projects impacting wetlands, streams and lakes subject to federal jurisdiction, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an injunction against a development in suburban Phoenix that environmentalists challenged based on the Clean Water Act. Although the court did not rule on the merits, the court did indicate that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needed to consider more of the 600-acre subdivision than simply the 66 small locations, total

A state appellate court has rejected the City of Malibu's argument that the state Legislature could not require the California Coastal Commission to adopt a local coastal program (LCP) for Malibu. The court also ruled that the Coastal Commission-prepared LCP is not subject to a local voter referendum.

State legislation approved in 2001 permits a Southern California wholesale water agency to sell water directly to retail customers, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The ruling was a victory for the Castaic Lake Water Agency over leaders of the Newhall County Water District and slow-growth advocates.

A ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appears to have thrown into doubt many of the approximately 100 mobile home rent control ordinances in effect in California cities and counties. A divided three-judge panel ruled that the City of Cotati's mobile home rent control ordinance was unconstitutional because, under the ordinance, the possibility existed that tenants might receive what amounts to a transfer of equity from landowners when tenants sell their mobile homes.

A ballot initiative that was adopted by a city council was not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act, even though the city deviated from state election law regarding ballot measures, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court held that the city's process did not deviate from the Elections Code requirements enough to make the city's action more than ministerial. Ministerial projects are exempt from CEQA.

A county airport land use commission may not exempt a specific plan adopted by a city or county from compatibility standards for development in the vicinity of an airport, according to a state attorney general's opinion. The opinion was written at the request of Riverside County.

The state Supreme Court has sided with a landowner in a dispute over Santa Cruz County's regulation of second dwelling units. But the state high court only cleared the way for the landowner to pursue his claims in court and did not rule on the merits of those claims. The court ruled that a landowner has 90 days to challenge permit conditions, even if the challenge calls into the question the ordinance underlying the conditions.

A county has the authority to regulate the development of a private water storage reservoir, and that authority is not pre-empted by state water law, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Two recent appellate court rulings appear to have clarified aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act and may have even broken new legal ground. One case involved the project description in an environmental impact report and in public notices. The court held that the identity of the proposed project's end user did not have to be disclosed. The other case contained a lengthy discussion about how to address a proposed project's impact on a community's jobs-housing ratio. >>read more

In the latest round of a battle that began during the late 1980s, the City of St. Helena has won an appellate court ruling stating the Napa Valley Wine Train is not a public utility to be regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. The decision appears to mean that the city has sole jurisdiction over the design and operation of the Wine Train’s long-proposed station in downtown St. Helena. >>read more

A state appellate court has rejected a claim that a Coastal Commission permit condition requiring the dedication of a public access to the beach was a taking. The court ruled that the lawsuit should have been filed 20 years earlier, and that an agency's more recent acceptance of the "offer to dedicate" did not give the landowner a new chance to sue. >>read more

The court of appeal has cleared the way for the Modesto Redevelopment Agency to sue manufacturers and suppliers of dry cleaning solvents and equipment. >>read more

The California Supreme Court has accepted for review a case in which lower courts ruled that a state agency may not provide tax-exempt bond financing to religious schools. >>read more